The road ahead
Director Ivanov Stefan
Countries Bulgaria, Canada
Duration 95 min
Synopsis
The Road Ahead tells the story of Stefan Ivanov’s journey back to his native land in search of the last wandering Gypsies. We travel with him from Montreal, Canada, to Bulgaria in search of the images lodged in his memory since childhood, of those realities that still today can be found in the remotest corners of the countryside and in the ghettos on the outskirts of cities. We meet the Gypsies who cross his path: Tataco and his orchestra joyously playing in the neighbourhoods of Sliven; Rady, the lonely bear leader; Veska who is getting ready for the betrothal fair, and others. It is also an emotional journey: past, present, and future become intertwined. Images evoke memories and, at the turn of an image, as it were, we encounter the protagonists in whose company we will travel for a while, and who stay with us long enough to tell us their story and allow us to discover the traditions of the wandering Gypsies, and how they fare today. Some of these individuals are faced with choices that will determine their future in important ways. They are indeed at a crossroads, as the expression goes. Others live with the consequences of the major changes that have taken place in the country and in its society since the collapse of the communist system. For a short time we share the day-to-day lives of these Gypsies, and we witness the difficulties involved in the choices they do or do not make. An aura of mystery and elusiveness surrounds the Gypsies. They fascinate and elicit the admiration of many people. Yet, many others treat them with the sort of incomprehension that leads to social exclusion. Dispersed across the world, the Gypsies constitute a community that, despite much poverty and great hardships, has never lost its spirit and its joie de vivre. In their fashion, they embody freedom, fierce independence, and the refusal to abide by values other than their own. The Road Ahead is a very personal film inspired by a profoundly human sentiment. Nourished by the love that the filmmaker has for this people, it is a sincere reflection on the fate of the Gypsies.
The Road Ahead tells the story of Stefan Ivanov’s journey back to his native land in search of the last wandering Gypsies. We travel with him from Montreal, Canada, to Bulgaria in search of the images lodged in his memory since childhood, of those realities that still today can be found in the remotest corners of the countryside and in the ghettos on the outskirts of cities. We meet the Gypsies who cross his path: Tataco and his orchestra joyously playing in the neighbourhoods of Sliven; Rady, the lonely bear leader; Veska who is getting ready for the betrothal fair, and others. It is also an emotional journey: past, present, and future become intertwined. Images evoke memories and, at the turn of an image, as it were, we encounter the protagonists in whose company we will travel for a while, and who stay with us long enough to tell us their story and allow us to discover the traditions of the wandering Gypsies, and how they fare today. Some of these individuals are faced with choices that will determine their future in important ways. They are indeed at a crossroads, as the expression goes. Others live with the consequences of the major changes that have taken place in the country and in its society since the collapse of the communist system. For a short time we share the day-to-day lives of these Gypsies, and we witness the difficulties involved in the choices they do or do not make. An aura of mystery and elusiveness surrounds the Gypsies. They fascinate and elicit the admiration of many people. Yet, many others treat them with the sort of incomprehension that leads to social exclusion. Dispersed across the world, the Gypsies constitute a community that, despite much poverty and great hardships, has never lost its spirit and its joie de vivre. In their fashion, they embody freedom, fierce independence, and the refusal to abide by values other than their own. The Road Ahead is a very personal film inspired by a profoundly human sentiment. Nourished by the love that the filmmaker has for this people, it is a sincere reflection on the fate of the Gypsies.